1956 Ford F100 Emblems Upgrade - Weekend Facelift

Notice how wax and dirt builds up behind the emblems.

A quick, circular wiping motion with Mothers cleaner wax and now there's a clean gap between the paint and the chrome.

I've really come to prefer Royal Purple's Maxifilm as great general-assembly lubricant. Taking a few seconds to lubricate parts before assembly will save hours in the long run.

I never wait until assembling something to find out if the nuts will screw on easily. Here I am checking the threads by hand to see if the nut tightens easily.

If not, the next step is to carefully run the nut down with a socket, or wrench. If there's any more than slight resistance, the next step is run a die nut, or die, over the threads.

The F-100 blazes from Sacramento Vintage Ford Parts include new mounting hardware that is equal to, if not better than, original.

Beyond being cuter than a damn bug, this handy little Snap-on 1/4-inch ratchet not only fits into tight places, but its extra-short handle ensures nuts will not be over-tightened to the point where parts will break.

Man, if that don't look like a brand-new '56 Ford, what does?

Not visible is my other hand removing the two 14-28 NF SAE nuts from the inside of the hood. I am holding the front of the emblem so that it will not fall off and chip my paint when it's loose.

This standard body 1/4-inch Snap-on ratchet (also available with 3/8 drive, which is real handy!) provides plenty of torque to disassemble emblems. Notice that I'm using six-point sockets to ensure the flats will not be rounded.

Using Mothers instant detailer works way better than Windex (which will strip wax) to clean off handprints left after the job is done.

Before fitting the front emblem to the hood, I made sure the gasket was free of debris and lined up.

I bought both of these Snap-on 1/4-inch ratchets at least 20 years ago. A friend of mine told me at the time they would last me way longer than the girl I had back then he was right.

Repeating all of the cautionary steps listed for the F-100 blazes, the hood emblem went right on that's it, I'm heading to the Donut Derelicts, and then down to Cars & Coffee.